light the headlights

light the headlightsv.— «Cycling slang includes numerous terms for doping: “mess up the soup,” “pissing violet,” “having a magic suitcase,” “not riding on mineral water,” “loading the cannon” or “boiling the saucepan over” and “salting the mustard” and, in a reference to the eyes dilating when amphetamine is used, “lighting the headlights.” Most recently, amateur cyclists have talked of “dining chez Virenque,” a reference to the seven-times mountains winner banned after the Festina scandal.» —“Fotheringham’s Tour de France trivia” by William Fotheringham Guardian (U.K.) July 26, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Space Cadet (episode #1514) 12/24/2018: We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves... [more]

Howling Fantods (episode #1513) 12/17/2018: Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing drug-laced dollar bills,... [more]

Cootie Shot (episode #1510) 12/10/2018: Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind! A new book of writing advice says a good sentence "imposes a logic on the world's weirdness"... [more]